


The Art of Relaxation

by goingtothetardis



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and stuff, Holiday reading, Sexual Tension, Taking a Day Off, Teasing, The TARDIS has a sense of humor, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 03:10:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7342252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goingtothetardis/pseuds/goingtothetardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of the day, does it really matter <i>where</i> they take a day off?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Art of Relaxation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DecipherMe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecipherMe/gifts).



> This was written for Roseinthevoid on tumblr who was a winner of one of my 500 Follower Milestone fics. She requested: Ten/Rose teasing each other, kissing, no explicit smut. Alright, my dear -- I hope I've delivered exactly what you wanted! :) I snooped around for another prompt to help me out, and I decided to also use the TimePetalsPrompts monthly prompt: "I can’t believe that is your holiday reading"
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this fic and routinely found myself giggling at the Doctor and Rose. They are such idiots, and I love them. 
> 
> (Also, I'm from the mountains and am extremely homesick these days, so please humor my choice in location for this fic.)
> 
> I'd like to give a huge thank you to Crazygirlne for her awesome beta job -- she helped me work through a few awkward moments in this and helped me make this much better. You're awesome!! <3
> 
> Rose's swim suit can be found [HERE](http://www.modcloth.com/shop/twopiece-swimwear/gorgeous-of-the-jungle-swimsuit-top).

“What, no fancy, futuristic e-reader?” Rose asked the Doctor.

The Doctor scoffed at Rose. “Nope! A good old-fashioned book for me, thanks!” He browsed one of the enormous bookshelves in the TARDIS library. “Honestly, it’s like you don’t even know me,” he muttered under his breath.

Rose stuck her tongue out at the Doctor before wandering to where the TARDIS kept a stash of her favorite mystery romance novels. She liked a little bit of plot with her romance, thank you very much. Selecting a few potential options from the shelf, she placed them in her beach bag on top of a massive beach towel, a bottle of water, and some sunscreen Rose figured was appropriate for wherever the Doctor took them. 

As she turned to make her way back to the Doctor, a series she’d already read once before caught her eye, and she decided to throw the first book in her bag for a reread. She’d found the series during one of her first perusals of the library when she started traveling with the Doctor. The first book hadn’t even been released until a few months after she first boarded the TARDIS, and she’d been pleased to find the whole series available to her, courtesy of the TARDIS. And one of the many perks of time travel. Reading before bed had been her pre-sleep ritual in the days when she’d been a cautious (but curious) new companion of the Doctor. In the early days of traveling together, there had been very definitive boundaries between them when she bade him goodnight at the end of each day. 

Satisfied with her book choices, Rose moved to find the Doctor and discovered he’d left the library. He’d promised her a lazy day on the beaches of Santelli, a popular resort planet in the Landiano system. It was about time for a bit of a holiday. They’d been running into trouble for weeks, and Rose needed a day off from the constant activity and prison cells. Somehow they always inevitably ended up in one before running for their lives back to the TARDIS. Oh well. She wouldn’t give her life up for anything. 

However, she still wanted a day of blissful relaxation every now and then, and she didn’t think it was too unreasonable of a demand. Earlier that morning, before the Doctor had a chance to ramble on about the places he wanted to take her that day, she’d placed her finger on his lips for a bit of shush and told him they were going to have a lazy holiday, and if she had anything to say about it, that day off would include wearing a bikini and laying on a beach towel with a book. A light blush highlighted the Doctor’s freckles after her declaration, and she’d smirked when he’d tugged on his ear and began rambling on about the perfect resort planet.

From there they’d wandered to the library to pick out a few books. Now, armed with plenty of reading material, she needed to pop into her room to change before meeting the Doctor in the console room. Rose dropped the bag of books on the floor and walked to her wardrobe, hoping the TARDIS had picked out something fun for her to wear. 

When she opened the door, she exploded into laughter. She picked up the TARDIS’s selection, which was hanging front and center in the wardrobe. Occasionally the ship provided a few different options for her to pick from, but not today. No, today there was one, solitary option, and Rose couldn’t help the laughter that continued to bubble out every time she looked at the bathing suit. 

Rose stripped down and quickly donned the suit, knowing it’d fit perfectly. The TARDIS had provided her with a relatively modest two-piece bathing suit. The straps wrapped around her, starting in front before circling her and tying beneath her breasts, adding a quirky wrap element to the overall look. What made the suit so amusing, however, was the material pattern. The bubblegum pink background was obscured by bunches of bananas. _Bananas._ Well, it would _certainly_ get the Doctor’s attention. Rose grinned at this thought and patted the wall of her room to thank the TARDIS for not only providing her with a cute swim suit, but also for her sense of humor. 

Rose thought for a minute before throwing on a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a dark blue tank top, careful to make sure her swim top’s pattern wasn’t visible. She giggled to herself again as she imagined the Doctor’s reaction. His eyes would widen, and he’d open his mouth to say something clever before remembering that he was commenting on Rose in a few scraps of material. Then he’d just babble on and on for a few minutes about nothing while simultaneously pulling on his hair or any other of his predictable tells that indicated his embarrassment or discomfort. 

After twisting her hair into a few short braids, Rose donned the big beach hat she found on her bed, picked up her book bag, stuck a pair of oversize sunglasses in her shirt, and slipped on a pair of sandals before leaving her room.

**~O~O~O~**

“Took you long enough,” the Doctor groused as soon as Rose entered the console room.

“Oi, after I picked out my books, I had to change and get ready for a day at the beach.” Rose eyed the Doctor with exasperation. “Unlike _someone_ I know. Doctor, really? We’re going to a _beach_. You can’t wear all that.” She waved her hand at his many layers. 

The Doctor sniffed. “I’ll have you know, Rose Tyler, I most certainly _can_ wear all this. My skin is of a very pale complexion and burns easily.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Oh come off it, Doctor. What happened to your ‘superior biology’? I thought you’d be above something like a little bit of sunburn.” She gave him a cheeky smile. “Or do you just not want to show off your manly hairy chest and manly hairy legs?”

The Doctor spluttered something unintelligible about showing _her_ superior biology before fixing Rose with a pointed glare and stalking out of the console room.

Rose giggled and settled down on the jumpseat to wait for the Doctor. The most dressed down she'd seen him was when he rolled up his sleeves and left the top few buttons undone, tie tossed atop his jacket on the jumpseat. That look alone had been tempting enough, fueling a whole crop of new of fantasies, and she swallowed hard, imagining how the Doctor looked under all his layers.

Several minutes passed, and Rose sighed, wondering if this is how the Doctor felt during all the times he’d waited on her in the past. The many, many times. No wonder he was always so excited when she finally showed up, ready for an adventure. With no sign of the Doctor, she reached into her bag and pulled out a 34th century gossip rag, one of the few futuristic publications she was fond of. The people in the pictures moved as if captured like little videos of a moment, something quite similar to how she imagined the ones from Harry Potter. 

A creak on the grating startled her, and Rose turned to find the Doctor standing in the entrance to the console room. He looked slightly nervous, lacking much of his typical cocky confidence. Take away his protective armor against the world, be it a leather jacket or layers of trim suit, and the Doctor demonstrated a rather endearing vulnerability. 

Her eyes widened and traveled slowly up his form, appreciating his rather… revealing new look. The Doctor wore a pair of navy blue flip-flops, matching blue swim trunks with thin, white pinstripes, and a dark grey t-shirt that hugged his slim frame and stretched across his muscular ( _oh so muscular_ ) torso. His hair was in a state of utter disarray, as if he’d spent the last ten minutes pulling at it, and a pair of tinted specs perched in the mess of hair. Rose bit her bottom lip and cursed the heat she felt spreading across her face. 

“See Doctor, _now_ you’re ready for the beach,” she blurted out, blushing once more when she realized her volume was a bit over the top. 

The Doctor recovered his confidence at Rose’s obvious reaction and strode purposefully to the console. “Well then, Rose,” he started, “shall we?” He flicked a few switches and pushed the lever down with an exaggerated spin, eliciting a burst of laughter out of Rose. “Allons-y to Santelli!”

**~O~O~O~**

Rose threw open the doors and, beach bag thrown over her shoulder, bounded out into… trees. Pine trees. She rolled her eyes. _Of course._ Well, it’d been a bit unrealistic to think they’d actually get a beach day.

The Doctor crunched on a pinecone as he stepped outside, and Rose turned to him with a scowl. “I thought we were going to a _beach_ , Doctor. This? This is not a beach.”

Shoving a hand into his mess of hair with an air of sheepishness, the Doctor looked around curiously. “Ah, well, it seems…” He sighed before muttering under his breath. “Could you at least for once take me to where I want to go?”

Well used to the Doctor’s lack of navigational skills (or perhaps the TARDIS’s stubbornness), Rose held back a grin and crossed her arms, waiting expectantly for his plan. “So, are we going? _Santelli?_ ” She added some wistfulness to her voice in hopes that the Doctor would agree and send them to the right location. 

“Well… There must be a reason we landed here, wherever here is? Come on, Rose. A bit of exploring?” The Doctor implored, cocking his brow and giving her the smile she could never resist.

Rose sighed, defeated. “Fine, but if we haven’t found anything in ten minutes, I’m coming back. I’m not walkin’ about in this shoes, especially in the woods. These are _beach_ shoes.”

“Brilliant!” The Doctor beamed. 

His enthusiasm was contagious, and despite the lack of beach, Rose had to admit the forest they found themselves in was very appealing. She breathed in the pine scent and closed her eyes to soak in the warmth of the sun streaming through treetops. The sunlight cast defined shadows off boulders and trees, littering the forest floor with contrasting light and dark shapes. Green ferns dotted the landscape, and all manners of woodland creatures filled the space with a symphony of noise. 

Despite the beautiful scenery, Rose almost turned to the Doctor to tell him that ten minutes was up, but then they walked between two trees and stepped out onto a small, sandy beach at the edge of a spectacular, aquamarine, mountain lake. A gasp caught in her throat as she drank in the scenery; the lake itself was about the size of a football pitch, and surrounding it were jagged, snow-capped mountain peaks. Pine and cedar trees dotted the shoreline, with the occasional boulder jutting out over the water. The sun shone down brightly, and now that they’d stepped beyond the shade of the trees, it warmed her skin instantly. 

“Doctor, it’s… _gorgeous_ ,” Rose breathed, turning to the Doctor. “Really, it’s beautiful. An’ look! We’re on a beach!”

The Doctor turned hopeful eyes to Rose. “Yeah? You don’t need to go back to the TARDIS? We can stay?” 

“Yes, Doctor, we can stay. This is beautiful. An’ this way, it’s just us.” She looked shyly at him before taking her beach bag off her shoulder and plopping it on the ground.

The Doctor gave her a soft smile before kicking his sandals off and wiggling his toes in the sand. “Oh, this is brilliant.”

Rose removed her own sandals and walked to the water’s edge. She waded in a few feet before squealing loudly and running back onto the beach. “It’s bloody freezing,” she bellowed. 

“Oh, pish posh. You exaggerate, Rose. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you–” His eyes widened as he stepped into the lake, and Rose was positive he felt the icy claws of the water wrap around his legs. He recovered his slip and continued on as if the coldness of the water hadn’t affected him. “– as you think it is. See? It’s quite comfortable.” He waded out further into the lake until the edges of his swim trunks grazed the top of the water and looked over his shoulder, sending Rose a smug grin. 

Well, two could play at this game. Never one to let the Doctor one-up her so easily with his “impressive biology,” Rose decided to give the water another go. After checking to make sure he was watching her, she unbuttoned her shorts, unzipped, and slid them slowly down her legs, kicking them off once they wrapped around her feet. She snuck a peek at the Doctor and was pleased to note his somewhat dazed expression. Continuing the process of removing her clothing, Rose pulled her top off in one fluid motion and tossed both it and her sunglasses to the ground to join her shorts. She turned back to the Doctor with a smirk and almost laughed out loud at his expression. It mirrored her earlier prediction of his reaction perfectly. 

He gaped at her, his jaw dropped in shock at the design on her bikini. His lips moved to say something, but all that came out was a little squeak. At that, even in the sunlight, Rose saw the way his ear tips turned pink before he scratched behind his neck. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Interesting bathing suit, Rose. Nice bananas.”

Rose smiled serenely and replied, “Thanks, the TARDIS picked it out for me.”

“The TARDIS did _what?!_ ” 

“You heard me. The TARDIS picked it out. I dunno, she must have known you’d like the bananas.” Rose bit her lip, knowing her last statement had been a bold move. 

The Doctor eyed her up and down, lingering oh so briefly on her breasts, before huffing at Rose. “I’m not sure why she gave _you_ a suit that looked like that. I’m the one who likes bananas! In fact...”

During their bantering, Rose had edged closer and closer to the water. Biting her tongue to hold back a reaction to the frigid temperature as she reentered the water, she moved slowly, step by step, until she stood in front of the Doctor, barely a hand’s distance away from his body. His voice trailed off as Rose positioned herself in front of him. 

“Um, Rose? What are you doing?” the Doctor asked, breathless confusion lacing his voice.

Rose blinked innocently up at the Doctor and flashed him her trademark smile, her tongue touching her teeth, a measure sure to thoroughly distract him for a moment. “I’m just coming over to say hi, Doctor,” Rose replied before planting two hands on the Doctor’s chest and shoving him backward. 

With a shout of surprise, the Doctor lost his balance, overcorrected in the unstable sand, and fell back, splashing loudly into the lake, limbs flying in every direction. The second he fell, Rose ran back to the shore, knowing he’d try to pull her in with him. Once there, she turned back as he emerged from the water with a loud gasp.

“Oh, Rose Tyler! That was rude. _Rude!_ You shouldn’t have done that.” He fixed her with a predatory glare, visible even from a distance, and she tensed in flight mode.

With his loaded words, he began making his way to the shore, and Rose paused, momentarily distracted by the sight of the Doctor in a tight, wet t-shirt and shorts. They clung to his lean frame, highlighting the defined muscles and other… things hidden underneath, and the sun made the water dripping from his hair sparkle like diamonds. After stepping out of the water, he reached down and peeled the wet shirt off his body, tossing it to the ground. Rose’s jaw dropped as she drank in the sight before her, the Doctor’s torso, bare to her for the first time. Her heartbeat increased, and she felt the flush of arousal spread like a wildfire up her body. He was _gorgeous_ , and all she wanted to do was to follow that particular drop of water carving a trail along his neck and over his clavicle with her tongue, and– Wait. He should be too far away for her to see individual drops of water running down his body. With a nervous reassessment of her surroundings, she found the Doctor standing in front of her with a calculating look, eyes dark with some undefined emotion.

Rose tensed, ready to run, but before she could move, the Doctor broke into a massive grin and wrapped his arms tightly around her, trapping her in his icy, damp embrace. Rose screamed and tried to wiggle out of his arms. “Doctor!” She squirmed, but this strong arms didn’t budge. 

He leaned close, his mouth next her ear, and she shivered involuntarily when he whispered in a low voice full of promise. “Rose, don’t you know you should never, _ever_ try to best a Time Lord?”

“I dunno what you’re talking about Doctor,” Rose shot back, trying to ignore the way her traitorous body reacted with an aching warmth between her legs at the gravelly rumble of his voice. “You were the one goin’ on about how the water isn’t cold. I thought you’d like a swim, that’s all.”

“In this water? Oh, no, it’s frigid. I was just pretending it didn’t bother me. But then you had to go and… distract me.” He scooped her up in his arms and carried her bridal style, shrieking and screaming, into the water until he was up to his thighs. Without missing a beat, he unceremoniously dumped her in the water. 

The water was so cold, Rose momentarily forgot how to breathe. It chilled her to the bone, and even after a few moments underwater, her movements slowed down as the aching cold spread through her limbs. As quick as she could, she shot to the surface and emerged with an invigorating whoop and a splash toward the Doctor. Surprised the Doctor hadn’t returned back to the shore as she had, she launched herself forward before jumping in his arms, throwing her arms around his neck. “Doctor! Okay, okay! We’re even! I promise not to do it again. Jus’ no more water, please.” He snorted at her shallow promise clearly motivated by her desire to get warm again rather than actual sincerity. Nevertheless, he wrapped his arms around her as she swung her legs around his hips. Rose relished the feeling of their bodies pressed together. 

“As the lady demands,” he agreed. 

They reached the shore, and Rose sighed in relief when she felt the sun already warming her frozen body. She unwrapped her legs from the Doctor and found the ground with her feet, her hands falling between them to rest over each of his hearts. She paused when he didn’t immediately release her. 

Rose looked at the Doctor and stopped breathing when his face loomed centimeters from hers. She unconsciously licked her lips, and his eyes flitted down to track the movement. 

It was now or never. 

Taking a chance, Rose stood on her toes and pressed her lips against the Doctor’s. For a brief moment she feared she’d crossed a line when he froze beneath her, but his hands quickly slid down and fingers clenched at her hips. Rose melted into his embrace and raised her arms so she could run her fingers through his damp locks. 

Their lips slid lazily against each other as, together, they cautiously tested their limits. Rose couldn’t help the soft moan that escaped when the Doctor tentatively traced her bottom lip with his tongue, not so subtly requesting entrance. Her lips parted, and their tongues twisted together gently, a natural progression in the new status quo between them. For a few minutes they stood together, blissfully wrapped up in each other, before Rose pulled back, breathing heavily, and leaned her forehead against the Doctor’s chest. 

She peered up at him as a shy smile drifted across her lips. “Hello,” she murmured. 

The Doctor beamed back. “Hello.” 

“I think I’m gonna go lay out and find my book,” Rose breathed before reaching for the Doctor’s hand and walking to her beach bag, stopping to pick up her discarded clothes along the way. “But first I’ll need sunscreen.” Sending the Doctor a cheeky smirk, she told the Doctor, “I’ll do you if you do me.”

He choked.

**~O~O~O~**

Forty-five minutes later, Rose lay on her stomach on top of her beach towel. The Doctor had just finished applying sunscreen to the back half of her body, and she felt boneless and relaxed. The Doctor had not only rubbed lotion into the hard to reach places of her back, but he’d also given her a deep massage, working out many tension points she’d not known existed. Throughout the massage, he’d sprinkled feather light kisses over the back of her neck and down her spine. He’d then worked the massage down her legs, and Rose had almost kicked him away in mortification, _positive_ he’d be able to smell her obvious arousal. After all the touching, kissing, and flirting between them, plus the long, borderline-sensual massage from the Doctor, if things didn’t progress further between them by the end of the day, she was going to have to take matters quite literally into her own hands back on the TARDIS.

In the meantime, she tried to regain some semblance of control and higher function to do something other than think about how badly she wanted to shag the Doctor rotten. 

“Mmmmmmmppffff…” she muttered. 

“Rose?” The Doctor poked her side, making her jump.

“Mmmmnnnggggghhhhh…” 

The Doctor poked her again. “Rose, contrary to what you’re saying, your skin is not growing tentacles. And when did you learn to speak Mhruakff?”

Rose lifted her head weakly before letting it fall back to the blanket.

“That’s it. I’m not sure I should give you another massage again, if this is what it does to you. You can’t even move,” the Doctor complained. 

Rose sighed and languorously stretched her fingers and toes as far apart as she could get them before flopping to her back. She looked up into the Doctor’s face, smiling lazily when saw how he leaned over, blocking the sun for her. “Mmmmm, Doctor,” she moaned, “that was… gorgeous. I feel like I’m floating on a cloud right now. Thank you.” 

The Doctor swallowed hard and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re welcome.” He flicked his eyes to the edge of the towel and found the beach bag. “Books! Rose! Would you like your book?”

“Mmm, yes, ta. Suppose I _should_ to take advantage of this bit of holiday. Can you hand me my water bottle, first?” 

“Water! Yes! Very brilliant, you are. You need to hydrate after that rather excellent massage, help your kidneys get rid of all those toxins released from the massage.” The Doctor dug through Rose’s bag, handed her the bottle, then stopped, making a face. “Rose, are you reading _Twilight_?” He said the last word with a voice mixed with mild disgust and amusement. 

“So what if I am?” Rose rolled her eyes. Of _course_ he’d wrinkle his nose at her choice of reading material. The fact that she’d come to love reading at all since joining the Doctor on the TARDIS was nothing short of a miracle. In her younger teenage years, she’d never been much of a reader, preferring telly and films over the patience required for reading anything beyond the rags and other similar rubbish. 

The Doctor removed the book and tossed it gently toward Rose before pulling a massive book out of his swim trunks pocket and turning to his stomach. Rose looked on in astonishment. The Doctor caught her look of surprise and grinned. “Bigger on the inside pockets are a standard feature in all my clothing. And they don’t leak. Everything always stays dry.”

“So what’re you reading?” Rose asked curiously.

The Doctor cleared his throat, and a faint flush covered his cheeks. “Um, a book on the string theory and how it relates to fundamental physics and quantum mechanical particles.” 

Rose studied him carefully and he averted his gaze. She tried to subtly peek at his book, but he kept it closed in front of him, the circular symbols of his language decorating the front of the page. His behavior suggested there was something he didn’t want her to see in the book, but she decided to leave it for now. Maybe she could “best” her (was he _hers_ now?) Time Lord again. 

“Mmm, sounds exciting.” Rose grimaced. Flipping back to her stomach, she cracked her book open and started reading from chapter one.

**~O~O~O~**

Some time later, Rose felt the Doctor shift on the towel beside her, but she tried to focus on the words in her book and not the Doctor’s inability to sit still for longer than ten minutes.

Suddenly, the Doctor’s voice rang out mockingly next to her ear. “‘Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face–’ Rose, this is _rubbish_. You’ve met Charles Dickens. _Dickens_. Now that, that is an author worth reading.”

Rose turned to find the Doctor peering over her shoulder. She swatted his arm in mock aggravation. “Yes, but Doctor, today is beach day. If I want to read ‘rubbish’ reading material when I’m laying out under the sun, I’m gonna read my rubbish reading material. Now go read your string whatever.”

“But Rose, I’m bored. How can you just lay there?” the Doctor whinged. 

She sighed, resigning herself to an afternoon of entertaining the Doctor instead of reading her “rubbish.” Closing her book, she pinned the Doctor down with a steady gaze. “Alright, Doctor, what are you _really_ reading?” 

“What?” His high pitched response told her everything she needed to know. She snatched the book from his side of the towel, but before she could open it, the Doctor knocked it out of her hands and pushed her back down on the towel, trapping her arms above her head. “Rose, I thought we discussed this already. No besting the Time Lord.” 

“Tell me what you’re reading, then,” Rose demanded. “Every time I ask, you blush, so I know you’re not reading string theory whatchamacallit.” 

“Time Lords. Do. Not. Blush.” With each word, the Doctor initiated a brutal assault of tickles to the one place on her side always guaranteed to make her writhe in hysterics. Rose thrashed from side to side, but the Doctor swung a leg over abdomen to straddle her in an attempt to keep her still. He leaned over her and brought his face close to hers. She stilled suddenly, and her breath caught when his muscles flexed, tensing to hold himself above her. Rose eyed his lower lip before surging up to capture it gently between her teeth. As their lips found a rhythm together, the Doctor lowered himself down distractedly and finally let go of Rose’s hands, which instinctively found their place, twisted in his hair. Rose felt a thrill of desire as, against her thigh, she felt the Doctor’s definitive reaction to their current, ah, position.

Rose pulled back breathlessly and slid her tongue across her lower lip, tasting the Doctor’s lingering presence. “Do you maybe, I dunno, want to go back to the TARDIS?” She shifted suggestively against the Doctor. 

The Doctor brought his hand down and traced his fingers along Rose’s face, gazing at her intently. After a moment, he spoke, the words stumbling out with some hesitancy. “Are you sure, Rose? Because there’s no going back from this, if we...” He gestured between them and raised his eyebrows. 

“Doctor, I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life,” Rose replied with certainty and tried to convey the genuine truth in her words. “What about you? Are you sure?” She failed to keep a hopeful tenor out of her voice. 

He cracked a small grin at her before leaning in to place a soft kiss on her lips. “Yes,” he said simply. “That being said, I think it’s time to go.” The Doctor unwound himself from Rose and stood, twisting from side to side a few times to stretch before setting off down the beach to retrieve his shirt. 

As he slipped away, Rose rolled her eyes and immediately grabbed his book and flipped open the cover. Sometimes he made it too easy. Over the top of the book, she saw the Doctor stop suddenly, and he turned to her with a horrified expression. 

“Rose, no!” he shouted.

After a quick inspection, the book fell from Rose’s hands as she dissolved into giggles, clutching her sides as she laughed. The Doctor (or the TARDIS?) had disguised a book titled _Human Courting Traditions of the 20th-23rd Centuries_ under an ornate Gallifreyan cover. While mocking her about her own reading choices, the Doctor himself was reading a book on how to date a human. A “how-to” guide for a Time Lord. The very thought sent her into another round of laughter, and yet, despite the hilarity of the moment, a warm, happy feeling enveloped her, and she smiled hugely at the Doctor. 

Deciding to tease him another time on _his_ choice of reading material, Rose stood up and called out to him. “Come on, Doctor. You got the girl, now let’s go home. I can think of a few other things we could be doing right now.” 

When it became apparent she had no intention of teasing him (at least for now), the Doctor relaxed and strode back to Rose, confident and eager. Once they packed everything in Rose’s bag, they clasped hands and grinned at each other before setting out through the woods. 

Time for a new adventure.


End file.
